Suchergebnisse

The article shows the way in which the journal Conservatorul Constanţei illustrated the main subject of local political debate in 1909-1912: the issue of the political rights for the citizens of Dobrudja. This debate is significant as it unfolds in the same time as the consolidation of the local branch of the Conservative Party, as well as the participation of its representatives to the parliamentary elections in 1912. These are the first elections in which the citizens of Dobrudja take part, after they were reintegrated within the frontiers of the Romanian state (1878) and after they obtained political rights (1912).

This article intends to analyze the role of religion in the public sphere in Habermas's theory. Despite the fact that the concept has been launched in a book published in 1961, only in 2005 the well-known German thinker has dealt explicitly with this issue. Even the critics of his public sphere model do not mention the lack of religion from the whole paradigm. Some of Habermas writings related to religion prior to 2005 are discussed. The role of religion in the public sphere is, according to Habermas, related with the issue of religious freedom and the State- Church separation, a model opposed to French laicïté. For Habermas, the state must not only be neutral to the religious discourse, but it must also encourage the participation of political organizations to public life. Another issue that is discussed by Habermas is the relationship between religious majorities and minorities. Habermas does assume a middle position between laicïté and the refuse of the modernity-imposed borders between religion and politics. The article takes an insight into the way Charles Taylor deals with the role of religion in the public sphere, a helpful argument for showing that the debate on this issue is only at the beginning.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the Romanian studies, in postcommunism and inter-war period, upon Montesquieu, more specifically upon his writting, De l'esprit des lois. In order to understand and to create a Romanian tradition of liberalism, one needs to begin from its origins. Montesquieu created a new language, different from that of his predecessors, a moderate one. He used the philosophic reason as an instrument of inquiry. It is said that one cannot understand a philosopher unless one thinks in his terms. Do the Romanian studies upon Montesquieu use this instrument, the philosophic reason? If they used it, they would be able to clarify Montesquieu's writtings and to understand the moderate language of liberalism. It is from this perspective that this paper will analyze the Romanian studies, out of which only two are academic.

The book analyzes international communication in all its aspects, emphasizing the need to address the process of communication from a global, comprehensive perspective. This global perspective allows understanding of all elements that make up and determines the dynamics of communication in the globalized world. Concepts such as internal communication, external communication, brand communication, image communication, verbal and non-verbal communication are essential in analyzing and interpreting the phenomenon of global communication, representing indispensable tools for companies and people who develop, work and act in multicultural contexts.

The article examines a few episodes during the 1866-1871 legislatures of the Romanian Parliament. The debate on the annual budget for 1867 represents a good opportunity for the members of the Parliament to define politics as a matter of opinion, with negative connotations, in opposition to the face-value and clearness represented by the mathematical percentages and figures. The latter ought to guide, in their opinion, good governance, which does not belong to the realm of politics. According to such a mental scheme, the members of both Chambers of the Parliament appear to be convinced that majoritarian politics and the fragmentation of the political parties must be utterly rejected in order to adequately realize representation. The difficulty of the Romanian members of the Parliament to define politics influences their difficulty to define their own role, namely the nature of political representation.

The review in 2003 of the territorial-administrative structure for the purpose of replacing the 10 districts with 32 districts, and the creation of 252 new administrative-territorial units of the first level was, to a certain extent, a return to the old administrative organization of the Soviet period.
Democratization of the society needs to change the focus towards local initiative and the strengthening of regional centers. The improvement of the administrative-territorial structure is an effective lever to encourage local initiative and to successfully implement the functioning of the public administration.
The logical organization of a State's territory contributes to the judicious ordering of state power and administration. It meets the general interest and fully meets the local needs and requirements contained in the administrative-territorial units.
The administrative organization of the territory must meet the judicious division of the territorial limits taking into account the traditions, mentalities and the needs for good governance and democratic criteria.
The option for a particular model of administrative-territorial organization must be the result of deep scientific investigation.
The territorial-administrative reform requires a thorough preparation. It is necessary to provide substantiation of political, economic, social and financial standing of such actions. The problem of financial resources, which primarily refers to training local taxation, is a vital issue. This is because it involves financial autonomy, a central component of local autonomy, without which the decentralization can not work. Insufficient training can lead to some unexpected consequences or compromising actions.
In organization and demarcation of territorial administrative units (by number, structure, size, etc.) the social, material, financial costs and all the activities related to them can not be neglected for a short, medium or long term.

I present an analysis of the electorate of the left in Romania in the last 25 years (1990-2014), both longitudinal and comparative. The analysis reveals an electorate that has hardly changed since the early 1990's - it continues to be predominantly poor, old, and rural, with little education, much like the electorate of parties such as the Russian Communist Party or the Hungarian Fidesz. I argue that this profile, and its lack of evolution, is largely a product of the left's (FSN, FSDN, PDSR and PSD) lack of genuine commitment to the institutions and principles of liberal democracy.

It is important to study the decentralized government's bases for the current period of Moldova's development, to develop its conceptual bases and to create a theoretical model of decentralization which would be most acceptable for existing realities and would produce the expected results following the consistent introduction in daily practice.
An issue which decentralization of public power depends very much and should be considered as a priority is the creation of a favourable normative and institutional framework to decentralization process.
Although the Parliament of Moldova approved the National Decentralization Strategy, in its practical realization there are still many inconsistencies and shortcomings.

The author examines the creation and functioning of the Romanian propaganda office at the General Commission of Romania for the New York World's Fair (1939-1940). He analyses two previously unpublished documents from the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant to the topic under scrutiny. The activity of the office was coordinated by the diplomat Andrei Popovici. His subordinates were the press attach. from the Romanian Legation in the USA, Horia Babeş, Paul Sterian, economic councillor, and Petre Neagoe, writer. The monthly budget was 750 $ (the rate of those years) for the daily expenses and salaries. The propaganda office started its activity in January 1939. It used to publish a bulletin, to help issuing stamps, to prepare propaganda posters, to publish and translate brochures. It also used to send presentations of Romania to journals, such as Cleveland News , Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, New York World Telegram etc., and articles on Romania to newspapers (Annalist, Journal of Commerce etc.), or to occasional publications (Going to the Fair, a Preview, International Guide etc.). The images the propaganda office used to handle were reproducing usual elements of the domestic and foreign official discourse of Charles II: Romania was a totally new country, based on a new social contract ("the royal revolution"), that was looking persistently towards "tomorrow's world" (the slogan of the American fair); this future was build with Romanian resources and strengths, mobilized by "the king of young people and of the peasants".

his paper aims to illustrate how institutionalized education has been a significant identity management strategy for an ethnic group in Romania. After its foundation in 1872, the University of Kolozsvár (Cluj) was regarded as a provincial higher education establishment within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, meant to satisfy merely regional demands. Although legally the two Hungarian universities (in Budapest and Kolozsvar) were considered equal in rank, government and society gave priority to the first one. It is only over time that the University of Kolozsvár proved its utility. This change of image resulted in a leading position, especially at the start of the twentieth century. After the outbreak of the World War I, the activity of the University witnessed disruptions due to the drafting of many professors and students into the Army. The end of the the war not only meant the achievement of 'national unity' for Romania, but also generated significant changes for Ferenc József University, beginning with the process of dismissing minorities from the public sector and replacing them with Romanians. After the Second Vienna Award, the University of Cluj became Hungarian once again. The historical lesson of the inter-war period on the treatment of minorities had to be prevented from repeating itself, and within the new geopolitical context the USSR seemed the guarantor for the final resolution of the ethnic rivalries and resentments. In this ideological context, on 29 May 1945 two royal decrees sanctioned the functioning of two distinct universities in Cluj; the Hungarian university János Bolyai officially opened its doors. The preservation of a representative higher education institution for the Hungarian minority in Cluj, adapted to the new political realities, was achieved. But after Stalin's death in 1953 the feelings of 'national specificity' resurged, and national histories were re-individualized and reconstructed. The events in Budapest in the autumn of 1956 offered further reasons for central authorities to rethink the 'national domain'. In the years to come, propaganda insisted on the futility of institutional separation between the Romanian and Hungarian students in Cluj. Hence, a meeting of the unification commissions, held in 1959 led to the fusion of the two universities. This evolution of the University of Cluj shows the constraints, openings, compromises, and 'avatars' of the most important institution of higher education in Transylvania, which continues to function as a source of symbolic prestige and social capital for both Hungarians and Romanians.